Brake beam and head therefor



Dec. 31, 1940. R B S 2,226,704

BRAKE BEAM AND HEAD THEREFOR Filed Oct. 6, 1938 INVENTOR. Ova/e4 6 A? Bose/y ALI'TORNEY Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRAKE BEAM AND HEAD THEREFOR Application October 6, 1938, Serial No. 233,524

12 Claims. (Cl. 188-223) The present invention relates to certain improvements in brake heads of railway car brake mechanism, including the combination of such heads with the brake beams. In my application Serial No. 130,881, filed March 15, 1937, which has matured into Patent 2,170,112, dated August 22, 1939, there is disclosed a brake beam which is adapted to be guided along and upon the car truck side frames, such application disclosing brake heads having shoe receiving faces inclined preferably at an angular inclination of 1 in 20, so that the shoes will also be set at such angle so as to correspond with the angular inclination of the bevel of the tread of each car wheel. In said application the brake beams were disclosed as being themselves guided'upon the side frames, but the present invention is an advance thereover to the extent that it is contemplated that the brake heads themselves furnish the supports and guides for a brake beam, each of said heads being provided with a lug or the equivalent which constitutes means extending outwardly from the brake head and which move slidably upon the side frame. I The laterally extending lug or guiding means on the brake head may be cast integrally with it and such means protects the ends of the brake beam against wear.

The said application furthermore discloses a 30 reversible brake head, that is, one which can be used as a right or a left, while my subsequent application Serial No. 134,792, filed April 3, 1937, which has matured into Patent 2,170,-

P 113, dated August 22, 1939, discloses a brake head 30 which may be removed or replaced by sliding it along the adjacent portion of the tension member of a brake beam, further objects of the present invention being to provide improvements upon such basic disclosures.

40 The above stated objects being among those of the present invention, the same consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and r then claimed with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention and wherein Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved brake head, the brake beam being shown broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows 2;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 2, parts being shown in broken lines;

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification, parts of the brake head and the brake beam being broken away, and the combined head and beam viewed in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a section transversely through the middle of the brake head, Fig. 4, and longitudinally through the brake beam, parts being broken 5 away;

Fig. 6 is a still further modification of the brake hea'd, shown in transverse section as mounted upon the end of a brake beam; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the brake head 19 shown in Fig. 1 to illustrate how a brake shoe is usually held thereon.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 7, the brake head or main body l0 thereof has its front portion ll formed with a key-way I2. Such front por- 1 tion has a shoe receiving face l3 which is laterally inclined preferably to an inclination of 1 in 20. A suitable brake shoe I4 is secured upon the brake head in the usual manner as by a removable key which passes through the lugs 20 of the head and shoe, the front portion ll of the head being provided with a recess 16 at its mid-length to receive the shoe lug. When the shoe is keyed to the head by inserting the key into the key-way thereof it willhave an inclination corresponding with that of the laterally inclined face l3.

The back of the head or body I0 is provided with longitudinal brackets l1, l8 providing a reinforced back for the head. Behind the recess I6, the head is provided with a transverse box-like or sleeve-portion 19 which is located between the flanges l1, I8. Such box or sleeve l9 provides a transverse recess or socket 20, which is preferably located at the mid-length of the head.

Furthermore, the head I!) is provided with a lug or lateral extension 2| located back of its keyway and preferably formed integrally with the head and such lug is provided with a recess or socket 22 which forms a continuation of the recess 20.

To facilitate the guiding of the head upon a car truck side frame, the upper and lower surfaces 23 of the lug 2| should be parallel or substantially so, especially if the lug is to be received in a guiding groove in the car truck side frame and each of said surfaces 23 preferably equi-distant from the corresponding ends of the head. The terminal portion 24 of the hollow lug closes the recess 22 and its outer surface 25 is preferably formed on an are extending in a plane transverse of the brake head. The arouately curved surface 25 is desirable for the reason that the beam is preferably guided on truck is l side frames, and as such surface of the lug 21 is in line with the beam the latter might happen to bind and not slide freely if the terminal surfaces of such lugs are not formed on arcs.

One end of a brake beam 26 is shown, as of course the opposite end does not have to have the improved brake head illustrated thereon, for what is shown is sufficient for understanding the present invention. To apply the improved brake head to either end of the beam 26, the terminal portion 21 of the beam is inserted longitudinally into the recess 20 at the back of the head and into the recess 22 in the lateral lug of the head, as shown in Fig. 3. It is preferred that when the beam is inserted, ,thatits tip abut the terminal portion 24 of the lug, so asto fill up the hollow which receives such terminal portion.

The improved brake head is preferably made integral with the laterally extending lug or guiding means 2! and the socket portion i9,.and if made of malleable cast iron, the shell-like lug 2| may be chilled or its outer surface chilled in order to harden the same relatively to the brake head. However,-if the brake head,'socket and lug are made of cast steel it may be unnecessary to harden the lug relatively to the brake head itself, although that may be done if desired.

The brake head issecured to the brake beam as by means of rivets or other fastenings 28, which may pass through preformed holes in the sleeve or box i9 and in the terminal portion of the beam. The brake head and beam being firmly and solidly connected together in the manside frame and such wear is precluded by the par- 7 allel upper and lower portions 23 of the lug and the arcuate terminal portion 24 thereof. The preformed holes in the socket portion of the head and the end of the beam'are preferably staggered, inasmuch as the improved brake head is particularly adapted to be used as a right or a left, the inclination of the preformed holes at both ends of the beam being directed away from each other as disclosed in my previous application 134,792 before mentioned.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the transverse guide lug is shown as divided into two parts 29 and 30 which are formed as integral continuations of spaced transverse flanges 3|, 32 at the back of the brake head 33. The terminal surfaces 34 of the divided lug 29, 30 and the terminal surface 35 of the brake beam 36 are curved or arced similarly to the previously'described lug. In this construction the flanges 3i, 32 are to receive rivets or the like for securing the brake head to the brake beam. Furthermore the transverse flanges 3i, 32 and their extended parts 29, 30 are formed in the nature of a jaw to receive the end of the brake beam, and such construction enables the brake head shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to be taken off the beam or a head applied thereto by sliding it either inwardly or outwardly upon the tension member of the beam, in the. manner shown and described in both of aforesaid applications.

Referring to Fig. 6, the brake head 31 is shown as provided with asolid guide lug 38 extending laterally from one side thereof and with a recess or socket 39 extending through the opposite side ting relation with the shoulder ll formed by the base of the lug 38, so that the length of the socket corresponds with the width of the head.

Therefore it appears that under the present invention if any wear occurs in guiding the beam along car truck side frames, such wear cannot take place on the beam itself, but only upon guiding means forming a part of the brake head itself. It is preferred that each brake head embodying the present invention have similarly shaped and constructed upper and lower halves as shown so as to provide a symmetrical hangerless type of head constituting a right or left head for universalapplication to either end of a brake beam, and to. locate the transverse socket or re- ,cess for receiving the end of the beam mid-way of the back of the head, whereby the shoe faces of the heads on both ends of the beam will be inclined toward each other to conform with the wheel coning.

An important feature of this invention is the fact that the brake-head unit includes the feature of a guiding memberextending outwardly from the outer side of the head and also the feature of a shoe-receiving face'which is inclined. the inclination being toward the opposite side of the head so that the inclination of the face conforms to the degree of taper of the coning of a car wheel.

It is obvious from the foregoing description that the invention is susceptible to more or less modification without departing from the spirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new is- 1. A brake-shoe head, comprising a main body having a face for receiving a shoe and a guide lug projecting laterally from one of the opposite sides of the body, and the back portion of the body having a through transverse recess therein aligned with the lug and adapted to receive the end of a brake beam.

2. A brake-shoe head, comprising a main body having a face for receiving a shoe and a guide lug projecting laterally from one of the opposite sides of the body, and the back portion of the body having a transverse recess aligned with the lug and adapted to receive the end of a brake beam, the recess extending into the lug.

3. A brake-shoe head, comprising a main body having a face for receiving a shoe and a guide lug projecting laterally from one of the opposite sides of the body, such lug formed by transverse flanges on the back of the body which are spaced apart to receive the end of a brake beam between them.

4. A brake-shoe head, comprising a main body having a face for receiving a shoe and a solid guide lug projecting laterally from one of the opposite sides of the body, and the back portion of the body having a transverse recess aligned with the lug and adapted to receive the end of a brake beam, the base of the lug adapted for abutment by saidend.

5. A brake-shoe head, comprising a main body having a face for receiving .a shoe, each half of the body being similar to the other half to provide a reversible head, and a guide lug projecting laterally from one of, the opposite sides of the body at its midlength, and the body having a recess extending transversely through the head to its other opposite side andaligned with the lug, whereby the recess is adapted to receive either end of a brake beam.

6. A combined brake beam and brake head, comprising a brake .beam, and a brake head mounted on and receiving within it the end of the beam and provided with a guide lug projecting laterallytherefrom in line with and engaging the end of the beam.

7. A combined brake beam and brake head,

5 comprising a brake beam, and a brake head mounted on the beam and provided with a guide lug projecting laterally therefrom and receiving therein the end of the beam.

8. A combined brake beam and brake head,

comprising a brake beam, and a brake head mounted on the beam and provided with a guide lug projecting laterally therefrom at the end of the beam, the head having a back recess extending from side to side thereof and receiving the end of the beam and the lug extending substantiaily in line with the recess.

9. A combined brake beam and brake head, comprising a brake beam, and a brake head mounted on the beam and provided with a guide lug projecting laterally therefrom at the end of the beam, the head having a back recess receiving the end of the beam and the lug receiving within it the terminal portion of said end.

10. A combined brake beam and brake head,

comprising a brake beam and a. brake head having a rear socket-portion providing a transverse back recess extending through the socket-portion at the midlength of the head and receiving the end of the beam, means upon one side of the head, opposite to the recess for guiding the of the beam.

beam on a truck side-frame and protecting the end 01' the beam against wear, and means connecting the socket-portion and beam for securing the head to the beam.

1 A combined brake beam and brake head, 5 comprising a brake beam and a brake head having a transverse back recess at its mid-length receiving the end of the beam, means upon one side of the head, opposite to the recess for guiding the beam on a truck side-frame and pro- 10 tecting the end of the beam against wear, and means securing the head to the beam, the recess extending into the guiding means and the terminal portion of said end extending into the guiding means. 15

12. The combination of a brake-beam, a brakehead secured at its midlength thereto and having its shoe-receiving face inclined toward one side of the head, a brake-shoe on the inclined face, keying means between the shoe and head and 20 maintaining the shoe in a bodily-inclined position with respect to one side of the head, and means projecting laterally from the opposite side of the head and adapted to guide the beam on a car-truck side-frame, the back-portion of the 25 head having a transverse socket receiving the end of the beam and whereby the brake head is rendered reversible for securement on either end CHARLES R. BUSCH. 3O 

